I want to go home , but I have none !

You (could this well mean also you, dear reader?) took it away from me!

The law demands that we atone

When we take things we do not own

But leaves the lords and ladies fine

Who take things that are yours and mine.

Financially and economically, our world is moving on a fundamental direction which feeds on human poverty and the destruction of the environment, generates social apartheid, encourages racism and ethnic strife and undermines all human rights, resulting in a globalization of poverty.  A new war for the division and re-division of the world is in the making, threatening the very destruction of human civilization.  Morality has been sentenced to death.

We are witnessing the explosive escalation of militarist violence spearheaded by the United States and other major imperialist powers.  In the nearly fifteen years since the beginning of the ‘war on terror’, which had served as a pretext for the unleashing of US military power all over the world, the U.S. had invaded Iraq and Afghanistan and conducted operations against Syria, Yemen, Libya and countless other countries, not to mention subversive operations in Eastern countries.

I have been rendered homeless in my own country through no fault of mine.  And now you are fighting me because I come to seek shelter and safety in your country, while, at the same time, you are turning the plight of immigrants into a political ball game. We feel like criminals for not having papers, and we're treated like criminals.

So the European Union strives to plan a ‘quota system’ that distributes refugees among the member states.  Quite understandably, several countries oppose this initiative.  Of course, why should colonising countries and still currently exploiting countries through wars and commercial manoeuvres, shove their responsibility on others?  On the other hand, none can bet anything on the Schengen treaty, or any other EU treaty for that matter, as we all know well enough that the European Union is nothing more than a club where the strong control and govern the weak. 

Totally ignoring the symptoms of the crisis rather than the causes, the EU foreign ministers foolishly and indiscreetly suggested launching an attack to destroy smugglers’ boats in Libya.  The EU's plans are utterly inadequate.   After burying its head in the sand for years, the EU now needs firstly a comprehensive solution to save the refugees at sea, as otherwise its much vaunted humanistic values - the basis of European integration – would be bare and void. And this comprehensive solution to the crisis in the Mediterranean must involve not just more solidarity among the European states, but also more solidarity with the Third World.

The present stream of migration across the Mediterranean sees its roots in the ugly faces of slavery and colonialism, past and present.  Today, as a continent, Africa is still enslaved because of its vast natural resources.  You must be aware how development experts are concerned that the combination of soft United Nations regulations, inefficient legal systems and compliant local corrupt elites are aiding foreign land grabs in Africa!

However, blame must also be laid at the feet of the so-called civilized societies for keeping a country rich in resource  poor in an abused population, although it wouldn’t be fair to blame only foreigners for this human tragedy as there often is a collusion between foreigners’ greed and local corruption and incompetence.  It is well known whose role it is in establishing the corrupt regimes that govern Africa today.  Why does nobody refer to the part that European and U.S. companies play in feeding the Swiss bank accounts of African corrupt politicians and generals?

The E.U. has no immigration policy, except for the exploitative and scandalous Blue Card scheme, or rather tactical ploy.  The main objective of the EU Blue Card is to meet the European Union’s market demand for labour.  The scheme is a new form of exploitation and discrimination as the E.U. countries will take only the cream of the crop while depriving under-developed countries of qualified and skilled workers.    However, although on the excuse of protecting migrants from exploitation, there is grave concern on its impact on the brain-drain on non-EU countries, especially African.  There are no options to mitigate the effects of large scale departures of skilled African professionals, as there are no concrete policies to address skill shortages caused by this brain-drain.  Why do we let entrepreneurs move here when they have what it takes to start companies that will create even more job in their own countries?  Simple – because we are selfish and greedy!

Was it Britain’s Prime Minister who said: “I just hope that we send them back to their mother land as soon as possible and we do not find any excuse to keep them here.”  Whar mother land?  Which one of your exploited colonies drained of its resources would that be, Mr. Cameron?  While he continued: "Together we will reclaim our borders and send illegal immigrants home." But he said he was determined to give "the red-carpet treatment" to entrepreneurs, investors and scientists from overseas who want to come to Britain to create businesses and jobs.  My goodness, what a cheek and an example of British impudence!

To boot, the attempt of Muscat, the prime minister of tiny Malta, to effect pushbacks was curbed by the Strasbourg court.   He offered no consideration for the dangers they would be facing in the turmoil and shambles of their own country.  Besides the fact that the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) had already ruled that such pushbacks were illegal and breach fundamental human rights, on the home ground, a Labour think-tank, led by Dr. Carmen Sammut, had supported all campaigners for the migrants not to be sent back.

Moreover, Malta’s Foreign Minister George Vella said that he regretted that nothing was being done by the administration in Tripoli to control migration.  Why doesn’t Vella tell us what he did before and against the destruction of Libya?  It is truly said that talk is cheap!

Perhaps the only sensible and humane fragment in this whole charade was by MEP Alfred Sant who aptly noted:  “They need to be given hope to live good lives in their own country and there is no real significant policy in that direction. Simultaneously a policy is needed to attack the networks of human smuggling.”  However, I must say that I do not agree of any kind of blockade of Libya, as, since the prevailing situation is without any control, any attempt to escape that hell must, in the most humane aspect, be condoned.  Furthermore, if Libya is serving as a springboard to escape from something even worse, who dares confront or repel these poor souls?

We all have the right to live in any part of the world, respecting the laws of each country.

“Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death":